In order to create various light effects and mood lighting in connection with concerts, live shows, TV shows, sport events or as a part on architectural installation, light fixtures creating various effects are getting more and more used in the entertainment industry. Typically entertainment light fixtures create a light beam having a beam width and a divergence and can for instance be wash/flood fixtures creating a relatively wide light beam with a uniform light distribution or it can be profile fixtures adapted to project image onto a target surface.
Light emitting diodes (LED) are, due to their relatively low energy consumption or high efficiency, long lifetime, and capability of electronic dimming, becoming more and more used in connection with lighting applications. LEDs are used in lighting applications for general illumination such as wash/flood lights illuminating a wide area or for generating wide light beams e.g. for the entertainment industry and/or architectural installations. For instance like in products like MAC101™, MAC301™, MAC401™, MAC Aura™, Stagebar2™, Easypix™, Extube™, Tripix™, Exterior 400™ series provided by the applicant, Martin Professional A/S. Further LEDs are also being integrated into projecting systems where an image is created and projected towards a target surface, for instance like in the products MAC 350 Entour™ or Exterior 400 Image Projector™ also provided by the applicant, Martin Professional.
WO 2006/113745 discloses a lighting apparatus comprises a light panel having a panel frame, and a plurality of LEDs or other light elements secured to the panel frame. Lenses and/or filters are adjusted in distance from the light elements, by for example moving the lenses/filters into different slot positions of the frame, to alter characteristics of the emitted light. Focal lenses, diffusion lenses, and color filters may be used individually or in combination. A compound lens includes lens elements having different focusing characteristics arranged in a pattern can be arranged in front of the LEDs and movement of the compound lens results in synchronously movement of the different lens elements in respect to the LED. AS a consequence the focal or spread of the light changed by the different lens elements will change simultaneously. Through groupwise control of the intensity of the light elements, the different characteristics are emphasized or de-emphasized.
WO 2007/049176 discloses a plurality of light emitting diode dies (LED) with associated secondary optics, which produce different light distribution patterns, are combined to produce an efficient light source having a desired illumination pattern. By way of example, a first LED may include a lens that produces a light distribution pattern with a maximum intensity at the center while a second LED may use a lens that produces a light distribution pattern with a maximum intensity that surrounds the maximum intensity of the pattern produced by the first LED. The light from the LEDs can then be combined to produce a desired illumination pattern. Additional LEDs and lenses, e.g., having different light distribution patterns may be used if desired. Moreover, a variable current driver may be used to vary the amount of current to the different LEDs, such that the combined illumination pattern may be varied as desired.
WO 2010/084187 discloses a spotlight comprising light emitting diode modules wherein each LED module comprises at least two light emitting diodes with different light emission spectra and a light mixer, wherein each light mixer is arranged at one side of the light mixer in cooperation with an assigned LED module and each light mixer is configured to mix the different light emission spectra of the at least two LEDs of the assigned LED module to form a light beam, and wherein exit surfaces at the other side of the light mixers are arranged next to each other in a matrix with its light beams of the light mixers form a common light beam and a focusing optics for focusing the common light beam.
It is common to incorporate midair light effects into light shows. Midair effects are created by creating a well-defined light beam which is partially scattered by haze or smoke particle in the air whereby the audience can see the light beam in the air. The midair light beams are often created in the head of a moving head light fixture where the head is rotatable connected to a yoke which is rotatable connected to a base and the light beam can as a consequence be moved around in the air. Typically midair light effects are created by profile moving heads comprising projecting systems as these created a bright well defined light beam or by a hybrid of a projecting and a wash system often called beam systems. Typically beam systems has focusing properties like a projecting system, however the focusing in beam systems is not as sharp as dedicated projecting systems and the beams systems creates a more narrow light beam compared to wash lights. There is today a number of different products (e.g. The MAC 250 Beam™ or the MAC 2000 Beam™ provided by Martin Professional A/S) which is cable of providing such light beams and many of these can generate light beams with variable beam diverges and/or collimated light beams having variable beam diameter's. In beam systems, the light beam can be split into multiple numbers of light beams by incorporating prisms having a number of facets into the optical system or by incorporating gobos having a number of smaller apertures. As a consequence the multiple light beams are substantially identical. Further Beam systems are based on traditional light sources as discharge lamps as midair effect requires very bright light beams having relatively narrow beam properties and LEDs have not previously by used when creating beam systems.
WO 2013/060329 A1 discloses an illumination device comprising a number of light sources arranged in at least a first group of light sources and in a second group of light sources, where said first group of light sources and said second group of light sources are individually controllable. First and second optical means collect light from the first and second group of light sources and convert the collected light into a number of first and second light beams. The illumination device comprises further first and second zoom optics adapted to change the beam diverges and/or width of respectively the first and second light beams and the illumination device is capable of controlling the first and second zoom optics individually. This setup makes it possible to control the zoom level of the first and second light beams independently of and at the same time control the light created by the first and second groups of light sources. The consequence is that a new and interesting midair light effect can be created as a multiple color light beam is provided where the divergence and/or beam width of the different colored light beam parts can be varied dynamically and in relation to each other. Providing two or more independent zoom systems increases the cost of such product and it is only possible to control the divergence of the light beams.
EP2428720 discloses a light fixture, which has a plurality of lighting elements, such as eyeball LED lighting elements, mounted in a support plate. Through mechanical engagement with directing plate, which is able to move linearly or translationally in its plane, each LED lighting element can be simultaneously rotated to move the beam axis (A) of each lighting element in the same direction and through the same angle, thereby directing the light fixture beam axis (F). A second embodiment is disclosed in which the lighting elements are movable in a convergent and divergent manner by means of a rotatable cam plate which rotates the lighting elements such that their beam axes move in radial planes extending from a central focus point. The invention provides convenient, low-profile mechanisms for directing or focusing movable lighting elements in a light fixture.
WO07007271 discloses an illumination system has an array of light sources arranged in a pre-determined manner in a first plane, wherein dsource is a characteristic dimension of the spatial arrangement of the light sources in the first plane. An array of associated lenses is arranged in substantially the same pre-determined manner in a second plane. Each lens has substantially the same focal distance flens. The array of lenses is provided at a plane distance dplane from the array of light sources. The plane distance dplane is substantially equal to the focal distance flens of the lenses. The illumination system has displacement means for displacing the array of lenses with respect to the array of light sources so as to obtain a plurality of directional light beams projecting spots on a projection plane arranged at a projection distance dprojection from the illumination system, wherein dprojection=10×dsource and dprojection=10×dplane.
US 2012/021244 disclose a variable focus illuminator including an array of light sources and a movable lens plate positioned immediately in front of the array of light sources. The lens plate includes a plurality of lenses that redirect the light produced by the light sources, such that different positions of the lens plate result in different sizes of the field illuminated by the variable focus illuminator. The lens plate may be movable in translation, rotation, or both. The variable focus illuminator may also include a cover plate in front of the movable lens plate, which may also include a plurality of cover plate lenses. The variable focus illuminator may be varifocal, or may include a zoom capability. The variable focus illuminator may be part of a system that includes a camera, and the system may also include a pan/tilt mechanism. The lens plate has gear teeth molded into its peripheral edge and a motor having a shaft on which a pinion gear is mounted is configured to rotate the lens plate, as the pinion gear engages with the gear teeth of the lens plate. A number of guide pins protrude radially from the lens plate and engage angled grooves As the lens plate rotates the guide pins moves in the angled grooves and cause lens plate to also move toward or away from LEDs. As a consequence translation and rotation of the lens plate in relation the LEDS are tied together.
In general light designers and producers continuously try to create and use new and interesting light effects in the light shows and there is thus a demand for illumination devices introducing new and controllable light effects whereby the light designers can create their own and new light effects.